Introspective Robert (Ezra Miller) is a new boy at Brighton school in America. He shares a room with Dave (Jeremy Allen White). David's sporty friend Trevor (Emory Cohen) hangs round their room and gets at Robert for not being sports-inclined. David looks up the short skirt of pretty English-teacher Ms Sobel (Rosemarie DeWitt), and watches her breasts, what he can see of them through her open cleavage as she questions him about Greek tragedy. Audio-visual teacher Mr Wiseman (Lee Wilkof) assigns Robert and Amy (Addison Timlin) to make a film around the school. They film assembly in the school chapel; it's led by pompous deputy head Mr Burke (Michael Stuhlbarg), who wears different flamboyant bow-ties on different days. Other students include Peter (Dariusz M Uczkowski), a friend of Amy's. They're all around age 16. The stars of the school are two seniors - the pretty 18-year-old twins Anne and Marie Talbert.

Robert is a disturbed boy, with previous psychological problems which have involved medical treatment. He tells his mother on the phone that people don't like him, but he doesn't want to go back on medicical drugs. His room-mate Dave takes other drugs - marijuana, cocaine. Dave takes cocaine with the Talbert girls, and Robert wants to come too - but Dave tells him he's not cool enough. Robert masturbates watching porn model Cherry Dee have sex with an unseen man who puts his hand to her throat to strangle her, frightening her. He watches all kinds of clips, some on YouTube, one of a schoolgirl (Anna Maliere) fighting another schoolgirl. Some are from mobile phones. There's one of Saddam Hussein being hanged, others of bloody corpses. He broods watching his computer. He looks up skirts. He hangs round the bottom of a staircase watching the pretty short-skirted Talbert girls. He and Amy develop a sexual relationship; Dave intervenes in it; lies are told.

Robert is there when the Talbert girls die, messily; they vomit a lot of blood; one dies in his arms. A detective (Paul Sparks) questions him in front of Mr Burke. Mr Burke introduces security measures - bag searches, room searches, expulsions. The girls died from cocaine cut with rat poison; Mr Burke says the supplier was outside school. But Robert knows that the cocaine came from the same boy who supplied Dave, and that Dave gave it to the Talbert girls. He keeps quiet. Mr Virgil, the school guidance counsellor Gary Wilmes confides slightly in Dave, Dave confides slightly in Mr Virgil. Mr and Mrs Talbert, wealthy school patrons, are upset that their daughters have died. Robert and Amy are asked to make a film of remembrance for the school to give to them.

Robert had been filming alone in a school corridor. The Talbert twins came into shot screaming, dying, covered in blood. Robert entered the shot, leaving the tripod-mounted camera running, and cradled the survivor until she died in his arms. His camera shows it all, from a distance. The questions include - why didn't he call the emergency services?; what exactly was he doing as the girl died? And who also filmed it, from a distance, from above, on a phone?

Antonio Campos directs and edits his own script. He uses a range of techniques to present Robert's state of mind. There's film-within-film, as Robert's film-work is shown on the screen. The film uses widescreen (2.35:1), and the films within are squarish, around Academy Ratio. Grainy footage is used to suggest mobile phone sequences. The way Robert films feels honest and accurate. His tribute to the dead twins horrifies Mr Burke. He uses people saying rather the wrong things about the girls; their parents silent in grief; the unctious Mr Burke as he preens and readies to speak, rather than the speech. It's the best possible representation of the reality of it all, and underscores Mr Burke's avoidance of the true situation. Robert's absorption with violent, controlling porn; his pensive introspection; his observation of Dave's use of him and treachery, are powerfully observed. The blend of story with the techniques used to present it are impressive.

Cinematographer Jody Lee Lipes uses unconventional framing to present exactly what is happening, more truthfully than how scenes might normally be filmed. The Talbert parents are kept out of shot as a point is made, then allowed to enter it; the camera fixes at a low level on a face, excluding other details. Photography is crisp and luxurious for Brighton's architectural splendour (Pomfret School, Pomfret, is the location); pornographic for pornography; documentary-style for some sequences; high-Renaissance for the visit of the Talbert parents to Mr Burke's study. Music by Rakotondrabe Gaël works powerfully. Brahms' Lullaby is an apt choice for the mawkish candle-lit school sing-song over the girls' death; and over the credits.

Ezra Miller's Robert is the stand-out performance. His handsome, feminine face and thick black hair suggest a good-looking boy without problems. But a fine and consistent performance, with a lot of inner containment, evokes a troubled boy capable of anything. Murder? The close second is a fabulous delivery from Michael Stuhlbarg as outrageous Mr Burke. Michael Stuhlbarg's Mr Burke is wonderfully phoney, gloriously insincere - but wholly believable. He's all the hypocrisy that a man of puny school power can possess; panderer to rich parents, breather of platitudes; and, when times get tough, ready to switch into panic crossed with mania. The brilliance of the performance is that it's somehow kept within the real. Addison Timlin's Amy is convincingly portrayed, a small but significant part. Jeremy Allen White skilfully gives Dave a believable duality - one of the lads on the outside, treachery within. And murder?

Unfortunately, as a whole, the film doesn't quite come off. It's not small details - the blood on the dead twins really does look fake, though that's a one-off lapse - but the overall. The print shown today is the slimmed-down version for general release. At 105 minutes it's a lot shorter than the film's original length of 122 minutes (the Cannes Film Festival 2008 version). But whether cut or not, it feels incomplete - or rather, feels as if there isn't, in the end, much to the story. Did Robert do it? Did David? Both are possible, and does it really matter? They are both disturbed. There's an unpleasant attitude to women both from the characters and from the tone of the actual film. The film itself is slightly pornographic. But worse, it's not very interesting. Before the twins get topped it's dragging very slowly. There are only so many brooding shots of a character that can be taken before getting bored. The total possible contents of Robert's brain aren't that unpredictable, and all that interesting. Although the film perhaps points to others - Elephant (2003), Peeping Tom (1960), If.... (1968) being some possible ones - they were outstanding films. This one, unfortunately, isn't. That's not to say it's not good in parts.

CAST (alpha order): Emory Cohen - Trevor. Rosemarie DeWitt - Ms Sobel, Teacher. Harrison Lees. Paul Lucenti - Student. Christopher McCann - Mr Ullman. Anna Maliere - Fighting Girl. Ezra Miller - Robert. Alexandra Neil. Bill Raymond. Paul Sparks - Detective. Michael Stuhlbarg - Mr Burke, Assistant Headmaster. Addison Timlin - Amy. Daniel Trinh - Student. Dariusz M Uczkowski - Peter. Jeremy Allen White - Dave. Lee Wilkof - Mr Wiseman, Audio-Video Supervisor. Gary Wilmes - Mr Virgil, Guidance Counsellor. Anne Talbert, Marie Talbert (uncredited). Mr Talbert, Mrs Talbert (uncredited). Cherry Dee (uncredited). Credits Source - www.imdb.com (www.imdb.com/title/tt1224366/); various websites; producer's notes; all at 9 October 08.

COMPANY: Director - Antonio Campos. Scriptwriter - Antonio Campos. Producers - Josh Mond, T Sean Durkin. Associate Producer - Andrew Corkin. Line Producer - Steve Makowski. Co-Producer - Jesse Ozeri. Executive Producers - Andrew Renzi, Victor Aaron, Susan Shopmaker, Rose Ganguzza. Cinematographer - Jody Lee Lipes. Film Editor - Antonio Campos. Casting - Randi Glass, Susan Shopmaker. Production Designer - Kris Moran. Costume Designer - Catherine Akana. Set Decorator - Gina Freedman. Music by - Rakotondrabe Gaël. Production Manager - Steve Makowski. Second Assistant Director - Michael Rabinovitz. First Assistant Director - Zachary Stuart-Pontier. Art Intern Fight Sequences - Josh Rovner. Set Dresser - Joanna Tillman. Sound Design & Mix - TTT. Sound Recordist - Micah Bloomberg. Additional Re-recording Mixer - Cory Melious. First Assistant Camera - Joe Anderson. Electrician - Nicholas Bentgen. Key Grip - Alexander Engel. Best Boy Electric - Andrew Engert. Best Boy Grip - Andrew Engert. Swing - Jack Lam. Swing - Harrison Lees. Second Assistant Camera - Ian McAlpin. Electrician - Carole McClintock. Gaffer - Paul Yee. Additional Editor - Zachary Stuart-Pontier. Negative Matcher - Patricia Sztaba. Negative Matcher - Stan Sztaba. Runtime - Cannes Film Festival version 122 minutes; general release version 105 min. Country - USA. Language - English. Colour - Colour. Aspect Ratio - 2.35:1. Film Negative Format - 35 mm. Cinematographic Process - J-D-C Scope. Printed Film Format - 35 mm. Production Companies - BorderLine Films, www.blfilm.com; Hidden St Productions. International Sales - Coproduction Office, www.thecopro.de. Release Dates - France 18 May 2008 (Cannes Film Festival); Iceland 28 September 2008 (Reykjavik International Film Festival); France 1 October 2008; USA 8 October 2008 (New York Film Festival). Credits Source - www.imdb.com (www.imdb.com/title/tt1224366/); various websites; producer's notes; all at 9 October 08.

END

John Park

reviewed Thursday 9 October 08 / press screening / NFT2, National Film Theatre, London

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